mikeynz

Frank was the name of the guy in a comedy called some mothers do have em,it was around in the seventies,funny at the time,I've actually got two CDs of mr spencer,there was some of his clips on you tube but alot have seemed to have dissapeared,not everything that is on you tube stays there,either is a copyright issue or people just take it down.

I know the age of a person by seeing if they know who Frank Spencer is.Do you know Mr Spencer?

Sometimes Karrots,(carrots)and lesbians go hand in hand,you could say a perfect fit😂

I'm not a lesbian either aye

Karrots are u a fem,I'm confused?just for the record book I'm a man,as frank spencer said lol

Gee I was just gunna sit down and watch the odd race from Addington,a bit late,shit happens.

Harness racing is definatly becoming a family affair.

Gee just checked Cambridge results,same stakes same size fields as Forbury,it is what is but I didn't realise Lionel Messi was at Cambridge last night,could have been a promoters dream,to the uneducated.

I do believe that when we compare say harness racing from mid 70s to today I think more than ever it has some real big issues facing it and there are questions over if I can climb back up again Alexandra Park struggling to get enough horses to run a proper meeting. No grass racing in the north,very popular in Canterbury Almost complete shutdown in north south of Cambridge An increase in average meeting,a big decrease in top meetings. Almost was a shutdown in courses from Oamaru to Winton.just as well Forbury got reinstated A congested calandar meaning some clubs (Forbury)is one specific end up running very ho hum days. Even some of the programming is odd,do Motukarara need a rating 55 cup race at same time as Westport race rating55 cup(note size of coast main races last few years) Even no Saturday night meetings,these would be a good idea possibly in summer,why 2 on friday night is not helping each other. Even the ratings are all over the place,maybe instead of a variance from rating 40 to 130 or whatever maybe a tighter system and maybe less penalty points for winning at lesser meetings,(they may have that now)the c1 c2 system worked fine but had only one flaw and that strugglers got no relief so they reached their mark and either sold or gaveup Do they need metro meetings on Sundays?that domain should be for country areas,even Forbury if they are still going should get sunday meetings in winter instead of Addington Plenty to ponder moving forward but the best way to start moving forward is to stop going backwards

And that's why racing and betting has issues today,those few dollars you won would buy ya racebook a pie and drink and gave change over,now days nothing,have we progressed as a society?

I think the old C1 and C6 systems they had were much simpler and open class was 10 wins but I do agree that horse need relief if they struggle in a certain class

Does Harness Racing reach such heights these days?

Then Luner Chance from Gore followed by Sapling Gore,Trusty Scot,Wyndham,Trevira,Winton,they just kept coming,now even the tracks are dissapearing,strange but true.

This is why I think harness was better in the 70s,top pacers started in August and slowly built up with big races at Addington,Forbury,Ashburton Oamaru and Kaikoura then cup week,after that it was on to Auckland Cup,late December,then after new year consistent racing back in the mainland,one season Forbury raced the open class pacers 7 times,problem today is there ain't no depth,harness racing needs a good hard look at itself.

That's always been the problem for Southland,these days there is nought much coming out of Southland that's reaching great heights,hardly any turnup on cup day now,as I said looking back I think those days were better.

About the same time as Young Quinn was another tough Southland horse,Hi Foyle,driven by Henry Skinner,there wasn't a big race that H W S didn't have a go at,one of the best

Henry Skinner is a prime example of less is best,he had a heap less meetings in his day but a heap of better quality horses,now you got the same old same old week after week,sometimes day after day.

But isnt that what I've been saying about some of the changes,Forbury are now only a shadow of what they were once,I dont think that is entirely their fault,go back to the 70s and 80s and compare and ask,how did he slip away like it has,one answer,administration,Dunedin still has good rugby,can it get back good harness racing,probably not but the decision makers of the day ain't helping.

Moral of the story,change is always gunna happen but I dont think harness racing has really improved,but our society as a whole seems to be two steps forward 3 back.

Look at Forbury last night,pretty average yet I personally like watching Forbury,they are at the crossroads,yes they have 10 meetings but the club wants more to make the venue more viable,that's a tough one,as in what's best for the club

There were less meetings but a higher quality,probably one thing that has improved is the length of the season in Southland,I reckon there are a lot of meetings today that could easily be dropped,sometimes less is more.

I'm sure any race is hard to win ,a maiden at Westport or the Interdom final,just looking back though it seemed better,Hutt Park and Forbury were strong,ran top races,ut seemed there were more races run for the top pacers and trotters,the trotters use to race at Greymouth and Manawatu,I know things change not sure if they have changed for the better.

Was just checking out the horses records of some of the better ones in mid 70s and looking at the results it seemed to me how better the depth overall was and probably a better structured calandar regarding the open class Pacers,with the ratings system today seems they are all over the place,just a observation.

Maybe one of the drivers has bad flatulence so others keen not to trail guilty party.

After Dennis the menace getting 300 hundred races from Alexy,I think Spitfire is being a bit optimistic looking for a early retirement.